PalmBlog

Reply to Comment: GPS Cabling

Bob wrote in a comment to an earlier entry, "Does anyone know away to connect the DigiTraveler to a Tungsten C and also plug it into a car lighter socket to keep the battery charged. Thank you." Well, one source I've found is Pc-Mobile, which offers a variety of cables for various PDAs and GPS units. I think that if you purchase items # GPDP50 and PPY2, you'll have cables that both connect your DigiTraveler and Tungsten C, as well as plug-in power for both. Hope this is of value. {Jonathan}

Doing CompUSA's Job For It

I stopped into a CompUSA computer retailer yesterday, looking for spare styli for my Tungsten C and my wife's Zire 71. While there, I noticed a gentleman looking at the Zire 71, without a single salesperson even approaching him. I walked over and showed him the popup digital camera in the Z71. He said that he was really interested in GPS solutions incorporating the Palm handhelds, as a replacement for the laptop he uses for GPS now. We looked at the Garmin iQue and some other models, and I showed him Mapopolis Navigator running on my Tungsten C. In the end, we jointly concluded that since he already had a GPS receiver for his laptop and didn't need Wi-Fi or a digital camera, his best bet was probably to buy the Tungsten T3 (for RAM, screen and processor speed) and the appropriate cable and software. I gave him my e-mail address, and offered to send him to the best sites for information and pricing. Throughout this 10-minute conversation, not a single CompUSA salesperson came near, let alone spoke to us or offered assistance. While I hope that this guy gives me points in the PalmPaysBack program if he contacts me further, it just boggles my mind how little attention this customer got while shopping for a PDA costing at least $300 or $400. Are there any retailers that actually have knowledgeable and interested salespeople selling PDAs? Or do they simply depend on people like us who evangelize and answer questions because we like to? {Jonathan}

USENET: The Little Known Resource

Many of us get much of our Palm information from sites like this, as well as mailing lists, but the more aged among us also know of a little-tapped resource chock full of helpful information: Usenet. Usenet, the name for a protocol through which thousands of topical discussions are carried by computers throughout the world connected to the Internet, had much more of a role to play back before the Web, but it can still be incredibly relevant and helpful today. Usenet newsgroups are generally populated by people truly dedicated to the particular topic being discussed, whether cats, classic cars or (in this case) PDAs. While there are dedicated newsreader programs for desktop computers (and maybe even a few for Palm handhelds) that directly access Usenet newsgroups (as the discussions are called), the easiest way for a newbie to discover Usenet is through Google Groups, formerly known as Dejanews. Go to that page and search for comp.sys.palmtops.pilot, and you will be stunned at the level of discussion and information. For those of you who want to explore Usenet further, check to see whether your ISP carries Usenet newsgroups directly and how to access them or, if not, you can get much more detailed access (for a fee) and information from Newsguy. One final warning: Usenet newsgroups truly cover *every* topic, including some that are distinctly *not* child-friendly, so beware of who's reading over your shoulder when you scan the list of newsgroups available! {Jonathan}